Thursday, May 1, 2014

My Ideal Job

I have a new job!Well, I meant to write that in July. It's been a little busy. With a new job and all.But I'll tell you about it! It might, in fact, be the perfect job for me. There's the slight matter of working for a non-profit and getting a non-profit level salary. but aside from that, it's pretty perfect for me.Although I am a Christian and my faith is a very important part of my life, I've never worked for a Christian school or organization, however, in part because I never wanted to only work with Christians or strictly with kids for Christian families. I'm a public school teacher and worked in a quite difficult public school for eight years. I loved the kids, loved most of the parents, had difficulties with the administration (most of the 8 incarnations of them) and hated the politics and testing.Guess what? I got a job at a Christian organization that hires and serves all children and youth in the neighborhood, not just Christians. It's the kids I love to work with from public schools without the testing or politics. I LOVE IT.I'm in charge of an after-school program with 60 kids in elementary and middle school. They come from Christian (Protestant and Catholic), Buddhist, and non-religious families. Their families are from Nigeria, Burma, Vietnam, Cambodia, Mexico, El Salvador, Guatemala, Brazil, Honduras, Nepal, Laos, Thailand, China, Taiwan, and the United States. They are being raised by moms, dads, grandmas, grandpas, aunties, and combinations of all of those.These kids area all being served by the public schools but I don't have to deal with testing, Common Core standards, or constantly rotating principals.In addition, most of our staff are teenagers from the neighborhood, and I love working with them. They are often raw and young and unprofessional, but they are wonderful and I am so privileged to work with them.There are, of course, challenges to this job. There's a lot of fundraising and having young employees can be difficult as well as wonderful. But I love it. If you pray, please pray for me. If you want to financially support us, take a look at www.hhministries.org or email me for more information. Stay tuned for more information.